The old childhood friend
by CookieMisfit
Summary: Back then, when it were people frightening the young Dr. Crane, he had to let go of a special person in his life. Now, it's him giving people nightmares, and she steps back in. But for how long? Sry for any lang. mistakes, I'm german, so please have mercy ;) Also on my deviantART account (CookieMisfit). This is a movie orientated Crane/OC Fanfiction. Chapert one is not the best o:
1. Chapter 1 Memories

_**Chapter one: Memories**_

„Thanks a lot Miss Dawes. Now, this was the judgment of the lawyer. Doctor Crane, might you now tell us your opinion on Mr. Victor Zsasz?" The judge gave Crane a short look from the side and used his hammer to make the audience calm down a little. A small grin of victory tickled Jonathan Cranes face since the young psychiatrist knew that he could not loose this game. Filled with confidence, he started to speak

„Well, in my opinion Mr. Zsasz is as much a danger to himself such as to others and that a prison might not be the best environment for his...rehabilitation." After winning his own game again, he wanted to leave the courtroom, but was unfortunately stopped by Rachel Dawes, a rather annoying lawyer.

„Dr. Crane? Do you really believe that a man who butchers people for the mob doesn't belong in prison?" Why was she even asking? It was none of her business what he was doing, even though she just lost another game. This woman was one of the most annoying people he ever had to deal with. Hadn't she anything better to do? Like, things that normal woman would do instead of annoying people?

„Well, the work offered by organized crime must have an attraction to the insane." She just wouldn't stop following him. „Or the corrupt." He had to get rid of her.

_'Can't we just...kill her?_' A playful, yet rough voice wanted to be heard again.

"Not yet." It was not only her questions that annoyed him, it was her whole presence, the way she looked, the fact that she was taller than him in her super new shoes, her voice and that terrible rose perfume.

"Pardon?" Who did she even think she was?

„Nothing. Mr. Finch, I think you should check with Miss Dawes here, just what implications your office has authorized her to make. If any." He gave her one last teasing kind of smile and flounced off. Annoying people anywhere trying to thwart his plans, but this little woman won't bother him.

'_She's still taller than you._' The man he was working for was way more powerful than any lawyer or policeman around Gotham. He took his ride home watching the skyscrapers and petty criminals pass by. He arrived his apartment which was quite far away from the Narrows in the afternoon, and thought about what to do now. He finally enjoyed the thought of working on his toxin for the case that his boss would give him a new task.

'_Why does it take him so long anyway?_'

While walking to his working room he stopped in front of a mirror to which's side a photo and a piece of paper were hanging. He took a look into the mirror and eyed himself. He was a rather tall and skinny man, for which he was bullied since he can remember. They called him names or ,sometimes, threw rocks at him, and one time that girl he had a crush on and her boyfriend were cruelly picking on him. He now was one of the mighty men in Gotham, and had grown to a rather gorgeous man.

'_We surely are gorgeous!_' After thinking of all those bullies he had to face in his past life, he looked at the small picture next to the mirror. It was a photograph of two children smiling and sitting in front of a tree. He remembered this place where he had been so often back then, when his life appeared colorful, and not gray like it now was. The girl on the photograph was the best friend he ever had, and the reason for one of his worst memories. He looked at the piece of paper that was stuck in the frame of the picture and had to smile. Such a beautiful message from a girl that was prettier than all the other girls he remembered. He recollected her deep ginger hair, the ice blue eyes which had a cat green core, that cute smile on her face and the smell of lavender which had always surrounded her, but not her name. She had been the only person that tried to protect him,and now she was gone. She left many years ago. The only person that might...

'_Oh stop it Johnny boy. She's gone. She's gone forever. Don't waste your time thinking about that shit. We've got better things to do._' He went into his working room and prepared his fear toxin, made it stronger and better, and almost fell asleep after working for hours and hours. He went to bed and hoped that he might have a day off tomorrow so that he could do something that was more fun than moving people to an asylum and having conversations with surprisingly annoying lawyers. He somehow started to feel watched, but fell asleep soon, having one of the most terrible nightmares he could imagine:

He dreamed of how he sat next to his dear old best friend, talking right the way they used to, feeling her warmth, hearing her adorable voice and laugh, and smelling her perfume which surrounded her like a field of lavender. The scene began to change. They now were walking home from school, when a bunch of bullies followed them, and started to throw rocks at him.

"_Hey you, Scarecrow! Stop looking so happy! You skinny looser!_" She walked towards the boy who had insulted him, and yelled at him, announcing that he would be some cruel kind of a-hole whos' life wasn't worth a dollar, making him smile.

"_Piss off!_" The guy punched her right onto the nose and they left. She sat on the ground, holding her nose which just covered the sidewalk with blood.

_"I'm sorry, I should have..._" She told him that it wasn't his fault and that this boy would repay. The scene changed again. He was 15 back then, standing at the tree, waiting for her. She was late, looked sad and was followed by a man who he never had seen before. It couldn't be her father. As far as he remembered, she was an orphan

"_What's the matter?_" She hugged him and started to weep a little. He could smell her perfume. Lavender. He felt butterflies dancing inside his stomach every time she hugged him.

"_I have to leave Gotham. I'm moving to Asia...I'm so sorry..._" She wept even more now, and he held her as tight as possible without hurting her.

"_ I...read the letter...here..._" That man took her away. He unfolded the small piece of paper to read her message,written in the most beautiful handwriting he had ever seen.

' _I'm sorry for leaving you alone. Please don't ever forget me. Keep this. I hope they don't continue picking on you. I love you Johnny. ~..._' He wanted to read her name but he couldn't. A loud noise inside his room was the reason why he was woken up. There was somebody sitting in front of him, breathing into his face and pushing a knife against his throat, but he couldn't see much since he lost his glasses while sleeping and the room was completely darkened.

"You would not dare to loose your mastery of either your mouth or your body. I've got some news." The female looked into his eyes, but he could not identify the color.

"My boss wants you to put Falcone into Arkham and make him shut his mouth about our business. Use enough of you toxin to make his brain go** 'Boom'** if you know what I mean. Tell him that we will kill him if he won't be willing to compromise. Oh and better don't fail, else wise you might be the one to go **'Boom'** then." He wasn't prepared for a situation like that. No fear toxin reachable when he needed it.

'_Shit_'. The knife and the woman were both gone as fast as they had appeared. He wondered why he sent a woman, and then recognized a slight smell of lavender in his room. Could this have been her...? No way, he thought, she's living in Japan, or maybe somewhere else, and by the way, she could never kill someone.

'_If she was here, she would have told you,right?_' He suddenly had the urge to find out his old beloved friends name. He put on his glasses and made his way to where her letter was. For his frustration, the part where her name once stood had been ripped off, but he knew that he kept it somewhere. It was around five AM and instead of sleeping, he looked for this little piece of paper.

"Damn, where is it?" He went upstairs and checked the attic. Most of the old things which haven't disappeared yet were up there. He always kept things that were important to him, he simply had problems with keeping all these things organized. He spend another hour looking for it, and finally found it inside a suitcase which contained other old photos or reliefs of his childhood.

'_Hey, is that a teddy bear?_

'_Shut it._' He smiled. Ultimately, he knew her given name again.

"Levana"

"And? How was it?" Ra's al Ghul sat on a chair and looked at her.

" Will he obey?" She nodded.

" You know him?" She shook her head.

"The face looked familiar, that's it." The first lie she ever dared to speak out loud in his presence. She waited a minute and continued speaking.

"I won't have to kill him, right? I mean, not that I would care about his life or anything, it's just killing people in their sleep gets boring"The second lie. She acted strange to him, but he blamed it on her being a woman.

"You won't." She smiled a little, knowing he just lied to her. It still made her feel somewhat better.

"Thank you, master."

Charas (Exept Levana) © DC Comics Story: © Nina Lutgen


	2. Chapter 2 A Mission

_**Chapter two: A Mission**_

It was one of those peaceful mornings when Dr. Crane woke up from a dreamless night, unaware of that there was something big, something powerful that will become very uncomfortable for him and the others that were involved in the mission. It was Friday, the day Jonathan Crane was glad about that it existed. He wouldn't have to be around annoying and retarded colleagues and patients at the weekend, and Fridays were usually quiet days since most people did not want to see a doctor before the weekend starts. He did his morning routine, and took a last look into the mirror and at the picture hanging next to it, before taking the subway in the direction of his medical office. He had no drivers license as it appeared worthless in a big city like Gotham. There were many people around at this morning, and the _other one _decided that both of them wanted a bit of fun.

**'**_Let's show thouse little test subjects what we're working at_**'** He took a little gas bomb filled with his fear toxin and dropped it onto the floor.

"Excuse me Sir, you lost something." An old Lady tried to give him the little receptacle, but he refused to accept it. He left the subway with a little thrill of anticitation. There was a little button inside his jackets' sleeve which he pressed. He turned around to see what was going to happen when the subway left the station: When the doors were about to close, there was a silent 'beep' sound and the subway filled with a greyish gas cloud made of toxin It spread fast, just as planned and the first terrified and desperate screams were to ehar when the train made it's way to the next station. These screams were satisfying and pleasing him like nothing else in the world.

He walked to his office with an wide, wicked smile crossing his whole face, greeted the young secretary and entered his little room. It was painted in a light and in a darker brown, had two big windows, a crimson red carpet, a Bordeaux red couch for the patients in the back of his room, and a big desk with a too comfortable chair and a computer placed on it in the middle of the room. A bookshelf and paintings tried to make the room friendly, but the cold atmosphere that filed it whenever Crane entered couldn't be ignored. The secretary knocked and entered the room.

"Dr. Crane? There are only two patients for today, one at one o'clock and one at three o'clock. Here are some files you should check, I think there is something wrong with them, I just don't know what." He sighed. She might be a friendly and pretty young woman, but she was useless too often.

" And you think I could solve the riddle what's wrong with them, eh?" He did not care much about woman, no matter how pretty they might be. They always were the ones to disappoint him. She left the room with eyes which told him that he hurt her feelings a bit. He sat down and checked his mails first. He forgot to do that for the last two weeks. There were no special things so he stared to read the files, when there suddenly was a new mail.

"R6A4G" He read the name silently to make sure that no one could hear it, since he knew whose address this was. He opened the mail and read the short text message inside it.

**'**_Meet Falcone. 1 PM. His office. We're getting observed. No more favors._**'** It was 12 PM by now, so he told his secretary to cancel his appointments for today since he wouldn't feel that well today and left with his suitcase.

The narrows were about 45 minutes away from his office, so he hurried to catch the next subway. He did not like Falcon. Another man playing mighty, just like a bully. He'd love to see his power fade, so that he could squeeze him like an insect. The thought of his face twisted by fear made him chuckle. He tried to stop for the reason that people started to stare at him. He arrived at the narrows and felt uneasy around all the people that had to live down there. The narrows were a stinking place filled with the garbage of society. People looked at him strangely. Falcone had his office in a small local where all the corrupts,villains and other twisted minds were having a time out from there oh-so-harsh lives. One of the guards asked for his name and reason he was here. When the tall, muscular and frightening man let him pass, he had to enter a dark, small floor with two doors. One looked like a ordinary bathroom door and the other one was a office door. He looked through the glass window of the door, and there he sat. The chubby Anglo-Italian man who thought he would own everything in this town. Disgust crawled up Dr. Cranes' spine, and he could feel the _other_one wanting to control him.

**'**_I will take care of him__**'**_ It was his own voice, but it sounded more like a playful version of it. A version that would love to play with human minds and live. He finally took seat inside Falcones' office and made his point clear. Crane was a little nervous about his plan, but the _other_one took over his mind soon,making him feel more confident.

**'**_Scare him. Make him suffer. He's one of __them_.**' **He liked the thought of hearing him scream like that, but had to disobey himself.

**'**_Not here, not now._**' **He told himself. Falcone acted uncooperative.

"I scratch your back, you scratch mine,doc. I'm bringing the shipments." His voice was filled with arrogance, but Crane knew how to get rid of this tone in his voice. He exactly knew how to convince him, so he took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes and looked directly into Falcones' face.

**'**_I won't disappoint._**' **the voice inside his head murmured.

" I am more than aware that you are not intimidated by me, Mr. Falcone...," His icy blue eyes glared at him, while his look darkened. "...but you know who I am working for, and when he gets here..."

Falcones' eyes widened as he heard those words. Crane had to suppress a smile which wanted to take over his serious expression. It worked out very well. He frightened Falcone, what gave him more confidence. The Italian man was nervous and spoke in a shaky voice.

"Who's bothering you?" Rachel Dawes face popped up in his mind. **'**_That annoying woman.__**..**_**' **He sighed.

"There's a girl at the DA's office." Falcone smiled. It wasn't an happy or honest smile,. It was more a desperate smile.

"We'll buy her off." Crane shook his head at thous words. His voice was distressed.

"Not this one." He wondered if Falcone was the right one for this job. " Idealist,huh?" The man giggled nervously.

"Well, there's an answer for that, too." Crane exactly knew what he was talking about.

" I don't want to know." He did want to, but the details weren't important to him.

"Yes, you do." The fear in his voice was gone. The young doctor did not like the look Falcone gave him. It was an dirty, evil smirk that crossed the face from one ear to the other.

He left the office as fast as possible. And thought about the naughty things Falcones' man would do to her. It made him smile. The terrified screams when she recognizes what's happening to her. He suddenly started to feel uneasy. What if he failed? What if all the things he had done to save his own life were in vain, only because Falcone failed at putting the lawyers lights off? Goosebumps were tickling his arms, and a cold shiver crawled up his spine. He was glad when he arrived home, and took a long, hot shower to calm down. Ideas filled his mind, and he started to make up some plans that would work if everything would go wrong. As he left the shower, a soft aroma of Lavender was around and he felt like someone standing behind him, but when he turned to see if there was someone, the smell and the feeling disappeared. Butterflies were dancing inside his stomach when he remembered who's scent this had been.

**'**_Levana, Gotham, China_**' **Those three words were everything he typed into the internet browser he used. Nothing but the meaning of the name Levana _(_**'**_Sun of the dawn How gorgeous_**'**), and a few articles about Gotham and China appeared. He sighed. How comes there was nothing about her anywhere? If he only knew her full name. He winced as his phone rang. It bothered him, but he answered anyways.

" I organized some people to.."Falcones' arrogant voice made him go annoyed immediately.

" Good. What about the transfer?" He did not want to know what exactly had planned.

"Save." Nothing may go wrong. His own life wasn't worth getting lost only because a few retarded drug dealers.

"Better for you." He hung up. It was late and that uneasy feeling he had a few hours ago sneaked into his head again, so he decided to go to bed. He couldn't sleep. Something tried to keep him awake.

**'**_Think of her face. Are you excited for it?__**' **_He did not want to answer. There was a package of sleeping pills inside his sideboard. He swallowed two of them and fell asleep.

Music played loudly when he opened his eyes, and people entered Gothams**'** beautifully decorated town hall. When he entered, people were dancing, dressed in fancy clothes and they all wore masks to cover their faces. He was wearing a fine suit, and his old ragged Scarecrow mask. The whole ballroom was ornamented with white and dark golden colors, and on each table there were little bunches of lavender spreading their sweet scent. He could hear steps behind him, but he couldn't turn around. The scent got stronger and stronger the closer the steps came, and when they stopped, someone held his hands in front of his eyes, whispering into his ear and softly kissing him on the cheek causing his stomach to free a thousand of butterflies. He finally was able to turn around, but she was gone too soon as he tried to grasp the opportunity of one last kiss before he would wake up. All guest turned towards him, and their masks fell to the floor. Their faces were terribly twisted, torn and gruesome. They started to whine and scream as if they were suffering, and their voices began to sound like one big chant

"_Skinny Scarecrow fails, skinny Scarecrow dies, skinny Scarecrow burns. All the way, head to toe, he will fail and leave her alone." _

He was glad that his phone woke him up. He felt sick and tired. That nightmare drained him of strength. He answered the call, trying to sound as natural as possible.

"Hello Doctor." He knew who's voice this was. A cold shiver made him more alert.

"Is everything working as planned?" He gulped. The worries this question gave him made him feel even sicker.

"Sure it is. I trust you, Crane. Do what you are told. Don't disappoint me." Crane tried not to think about the consequences that failing might have. The dream from last night did not help him much either since he felt guilty and worried even more. His morning routine was simple: He always took a shower, had a little breakfast while reading the newspaper and got fully dressed afterward. He hadn't had a day off for two weeks by now and wished for one desperately. Just as he was about to finish this thought, his cellphone began to ring again. It was a woman's voice, that told him that Falcone tried to kill himself and that she would need his help to find out if he was only trying to get the insanity plea or not. He took his suitcase and made his way to the police department. The woman that had called him welcomed him when he finally arrived. He was not up to much talking for that he still felt somewhat sick and meeting with Falcone again just wouldn't make him any healthier.

_**'**__Hey, this is our chance. We can get him out of our way now perfectly. No one will notice.__**'**_ He smiled. He had just improved his toxin and Falcone was the perfect subject to test it on.

"Yeah, Dr. Crane, I can't take it anymore. It's all too much. The walls are closing in. Blah, blah. A couple of days of this food,it'll be true." He hated this voice, he hated the tone he was speaking with to him.

He finished his talk with a satisfied feeling inside his stomach. The sound of his scream and the petrified look inside his eyes made him feel superior. He left the room.

" Well, he's not faking. Not that one. I'll talk to the judge and see if I can get him moved to the secure wing at Arkham. I can't treat him here." He gave the woman a last faked smile and strutted off. Not looking where he was going, he found himself in the town center, where he saw a bunch of kids bullying a boy that reminded him a strange lot of himself when he was younger. Suddenly there was a young woman standing a few feet away from him. Her hair wasn't ginger, it was black. It wasn't long either. Blue eyes. Lavender. Could it be...? He followed her. Well, at least he tried. He got lost after a few minutes, and turned around to make his way home, but when he had turned, his eyes met with a pair of deepest black eyes, causing him to be paralyzed. A terrible screech was the last thing he could remember before he lost control over all his senses and fainted. It felt like centuries had passed when he woke up again, still located at the same place where he fainted. He could feel cold raindrops from above caressing his face, and slowly stood up, still feeling all dizzy.

_**'**__Don't be a pantywaist. You probably just took a bit too much of your own medicine. Now move your sweet ass away from here as skorry* as possible.__**' **_He felt something in his was a piece of paper saying

'_Beware of the Batman_' He just shook his head about it at this time.

How should she tell him that she still existed? The answer was placed in front of her. It was a violet invitation card.

Charas (Except Levana) © DC Comics Story: © Nina Lutgen

* Skorry means fast for those that don't know. It's a nadsat word from Anthony Burgess' _A Clockwork Orange_


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